The Merry Companion: The Untold story
by sorafallenangel11
Summary: The Doctor has had many companions, but all of them left him in one way or another. What happens to the Doctor when his ninth incarnation meets Merry, a young girl who only wants a friend? Before he meets even Rose, how will this girl with secrets in her blood and a fascination for danger change him? Change the story as we know it? Well, this is that story. AU from season 1
1. Chapter 1

**Prologue**

I was only eleven the first time I met him; young and naive but _easy_. I didn't need commitment, I didn't ask hard questions, I didn't ask for the truth. I was a pre-teen through and through - annoying, a bit lazy, but only really interested in what was on the outside. I didn't particularly care about what he was like on the inside. And, at that point in time, the only thing I really wanted was a friend.

If there is one thing to describe what the Doctor is to me, its a friend. My best friend. And I have been reliably informed by a number of people that I'm his best friend too. I mean, I'm only 22, which is nothing in comparison to his 1000+ years, but I've known him for eleven years now - well, eleven years for me, a lot longer for him. Its perhaps a bit narcissistic, but I like to think I know him better than anyone else in the universe. And I've definitely got reason to think that.

Our first meeting was a total surprise. It was 2010, October. Halloween, to be exact. My mum and younger brother were out trick-or-treating and my dad was snoring upstairs; I'd been left in charge of handing out sweets to the trick-or-treaters. That's what I thought he was at first, a trick-or-treater, although he was definitely too old. In fact, our first interaction went something like this -

 _The pounding on the door was relentless._

 _"You know, it does take me a minute to walk from the sofa to the front door." I grumbled to myself as I entered the front hall, pausing to grab the bowl of lollies from the kitchen. It must be older kids, I thought to myself. Little kids couldn't hit so hard._

 _I pulled open the door and let out a shriek when a large, bald man crumpled on top of me. He was heavy and smelt like fire and leather; like a lightening storm yet, at the same time, like dust after rain. It was a weird smell._

 _"What are you doing?!" I shouted. "Are you okay?"_

 _It was definitely a relevant question, as he was lying half over my legs, groaning. He sounded a lot like Evan had when he'd hit his head, although this strange man wasn't crying like Evan had been. Starting to worry when the man didn't answer me, I wriggled my way out from underneath him, grabbing the shoulder of his jacket. Taking a quick look behind me, I started pulling as hard as I could with the plan to at least drag him into the kitchen. It wasn't necessarily a smart idea, I would later reflect, letting a complete stranger into the house when - apart from my sleeping dad - I was all alone but at that moment, I was an eleven year old girl who thought she'd be able to help._

 _Of course, the plan was put on hold as it took me what felt like a lifetime to drag him far enough into the house to close the door. By the end of it, I had collapsed onto the floor myself, my arms feeling like jelly. The man, although not looking overly large, was very heavy. I stayed on the cool tiles of my kitchen floor for a minute, trying to catch my breath, listening to the man breath heavily. He'd stopped groaning a little while ago although he still made little noises occasionally._

 _Finally able to breath normally, I pushed myself up off the floor, taking a few minutes to pour myself a glass of water. After a moments thought, I grabbed another glass and filled that as well, putting a large pile of biscuits on a plate before placing all three items on the floor a little ways away from the man. He still hadn't moved from where I'd left him, lying face-down on the floor.  
_

 _"Excuse me...Sir? Are you alright?" I knelt down beside him on the floor, reaching out to touch his shoulder._

 _He jerked then, rolling over onto his side and then again so he was sitting up. I stared at the strange movement._

 _"Where am I?" He sounded northern, like Mum did after a trip to see her sister. "Who are you?" It was a harsh question and I flinched back at the glare he was aiming in my direction._

 _"Um, you knocked on the door." I said tentatively. "I got you some water." I pushed the glass closer to him and, after a moment, took a biscuit off the plate before pushing them in his direction. "Here."_

 _He only blinked at me and I stared, wide-eyed, as he gulped down the water before scoffing down a biscuit. It was only after he'd eaten another two biscuits that I spoke up._

 _"Would you...like some more water?"_

 _"Yes, actually." He said._

 _I scowled at him even as I got up again, picking his glass up from the floor. I refilled his glass before I grabbed another handful of biscuits. After handing him the water, I took one biscuit for myself and handed him the rest of them, noticing he'd eaten all the ones on the plate._

 _"Fanks." He said, mouth full of biscuit._

 _I bit my lip as I sat down again._

 _"Are you alright, sir? Do you want me to dial 999?" It wasn't a thought that had occurred to me until that moment, but I had a sudden flash of my mum telling me to call 999 if I ever really hurt myself. "Or I can wake my dad up" I offered._

 _He jerked at that, looking at me with sudden interest._

 _"You just let me into your house when only your dad is here and even he's asleep?" He said it rudely, even though he didn't seem to be trying to be rude._

 _"You seemed hurt." It seemed simple to me._

 _"How old are you, exactly?"_

 _"Eleven." I told him evenly._

 _"Huh." Was all he said before he stuffed another biscuit in his mouth._

I have to say, it was an interesting first meeting. And it didn't stop there.

 _There was a flood of trick-or-treaters. The man sat on the kitchen floor the entire time, eating his way through the biscuit tin he'd nicked off the kitchen counter. We chatted brokenly around me answering the door._

 _"What's your name?" I asked him curiously._

 _"I'm the... The Doctor." He almost seemed unsure about it._

 _"THE Doctor?"_

 _"What about it?_

 _"Is your first name The?" It would be a funny first name._

 _"No, of course it isn't. It's a title - Doctor."_

 _"But if that's your title, what's your name?" I asked again._

 _"Its just the Doctor." He said again. "Anyway, what's your name?"_

 _"Meredith."_

 _"Just Meredith?" He teased._

 _"Meredith Archer."_

And that was when I got to know the Doctor.

 _"Why were you at my door?" I asked, picking out an orange flavour lolly from the bowl on the floor between us._

 _"I'd just regenerated, needed a couple things to keep me going." He held up his own, strawberry flavour, lolly. "Couldn't get it from the TARDIS so I came to the nearest house with lights on. Was kind of expecting an adult. How old are you anyway?"_

 _"I'm eleven." I repeated._

 _"You've already told me that." He said.  
_

 _"Yep."_

 _I got up at another knock at the door._

 _"Why are you alone on Halloween?" He asked when I sat down again._

 _"Its boring going trick-or-treating with my brother and his friends. And besides, I'm not alone, my Dad's upstairs."_

 _"But he's asleep, so you're alone." He told me. "Don't you have any friends to go out with?"_

 _Feeling my heart sink at the question, I shook my head silently, glad when the doorbell rang as an excuse for me to not actually answer the question._

 _When I'd closed the door again, I turned around just inside to see a small cloud of gold dust disappear into the air._

 _"Tea!" I jumped at the loud shout from the Doctor. "I need tea."_

 _"I...can put the kettle on." I said slowly._

 _"Yes. Yes, definitely."_

 _"You're acting weird." I accused even as I filled the kettle with water._

 _"I'm still cooking. I don't know who I am yet." His grin was maniacal._

 _I found all the things I needed to make tea with and pulled out two mugs, deciding I wanted one as well. I suddenly found myself glad that Mum had taught me how to properly make tea. It was silent behind me as I filled the mugs with water._

 _"Do you want sugar in your tea?" I asked politely._

 _"I don't know, still cooking. Just bring the sugar over with you."_

 _I took him the sugar before going back to finish the tea, setting both mugs carefully on the floor before sitting down._

 _I watched in amazement as he took a sip of tea, swirling it around in his mouth before spitting it out. He did this after every spoonful of sugar he added until he had five spoonfuls of sugar in his tea. I wrinkled my nose in disgust._

 _"An infusion of free-radicals and tannin. Just the thing for excess regeneration energy. Course, it's not too bad this time around. Had it worse before." He seemed to confide in her._

 _"Before?" I was definitely, really confused._

 _"Ah, little Time-Lord trick. Bit of a change of face, shall we say." His grin was verging into psychopath territory, as I promptly told him. I then tried desperately not to pout as he laughed uproariously. "Like I said, a new face."_

 _Someone knocked on the door before I could say anything. Still pouting slightly, I grabbed the sweet bowl off the floor and made my way to the door. I felt more comfortable with the Doctor than I did with anyone else I had ever met. As I opened the door, I thought hopefully that maybe he'd be my first friend._

And that's what we became - friends. My first friend. And for him, the only friendship that would last him a lifetime, as we later found out.

Now, you've seen the beginning of our story. But you still haven't seen the beginning of our adventures. And I'd tell you the ending, but I haven't even got there yet.

( **Found Earth 4356; translated by Finley Boran. On display at Museum de'Luca, Ancient sector)**


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 1

The Doctor was very strange, I concluded quickly, even as I followed him out into the night. I had been taught stranger-danger in primary school but I honestly couldn't think of a reason not to trust him. Besides, he'd said he'd show me a spaceship! A real-life spaceship! It wasn't an opportunity I was going to pass up. So I tugged on my trainers and grabbed my winter coat off the back of the door, making sure to stuff my key in a pocket.

"Where are we going, Doctor?"

"I parked her just down the street. Its only a quick peek inside, mind, and then I'll drop you back home to your biscuits."

"Mmhm." I hummed, walking as fast as I could to keep up with the Doctor's long strides. I let out a small sound of confusion as he stopped in front of a large blue box.

"Police box?" I read slowly. The box was about twice the height of me, with two square windows and a sign across the top saying 'Police 'Public Call' Box', whatever that was. "What's a Police Box? Are you a policeman?" I questioned.

He smiled mysteriously, not saying anything as he fished a key out of his pocket. I was still looking up at the box in wonder when he pushed the door open.

"Come on then." He pushed me forward slightly.

"But...WHAT!?" I blushed at my shout but didn't think anymore on it. Although it had only been a box on the outside, on the inside it was an entire room! It was like a whole other dimension.

"Is it another dimension?" I turned to the Doctor. He smiled slightly, although his eyes seemed sad.

"Yeah, basically." He seemed to shake himself. "Come on, I'll give you a quick tour."

I lit up in excitement, grabbing his hand.

It was a fun tour - he showed me the kitchen, an uncountable number of bedrooms, the library - he even let me choose a book to take home! - the swimming pool, a room where the floor and walls were a huge trampoline, a room where there was no gravity and, eventually, we ended up in the wardrobe.

"I think you should wear this." I was holding up a heavy leather jacket.

"But I quite like this." He held out a navy jumper.

"But this would suit you better." I insisted.

"Well, how would you know?" He said irritably. "You barely know me."

"Well, you don't know who you are either." I shot back. "You said you were still...cooking."

He glared at me and I was sure that meant I had made a valid point.

"Why don't you try them each on and we'll see which one is best?" I tried to reason - that was what my mum made me do when she bought me new clothes I didn't like.

"Fine then." He said grumpily.

I had to admit, grudgingly, that the jumper did suit him. However, I still think the leather jacket looked cooler.

"You know what!" He said, throwing his hands up, after a few minuted of bickering. "I'll just wear them both together." He shrugged the jacket on over the jumper he was already wearing, looking down at himself and adjusting the hem a little bit. "Well, what do you think?" He said after a minute.

"Its good." I nodded. He looked a little bit weird, but it suited him. "Better than that waistcoat."

His face looked as if a shadow had crossed it then and I wondered what I had done wrong.

"Anyway, Merry. Must be off. Let's just drop you home." He walked out of the wardrobe doors without a backwards glance and, after looking around at the mess we had made, I hurried after him, not wanting to get lost in the vast expanse of the TARDIS. He didn't stop until he'd left the TARDIS and walked down the street to my house, walking a few steps in front of me the entire time.

"Its been a good evening." He admitted when I was standing the doorway of my house.

"Fantastic." I smiled at him, even as I still felt a bit confused about his sudden change in attitude.

"Fantastic." He repeated. "I like that. Well, see you." He said abruptly, turning away with a big grin.

"Wait!" I shouted after him. He didn't stop but he did slow down, turning around so he was walking backwards. Not sure what to say, I waved and grinned at him. "Goodbye Doctor!"

The last I saw of him was his grin. Or, at least, I thought that would be the last I saw of him. In fact, waking up the next morning, it all felt like a dream. I almost convinced myself it was too, until I saw my new book and the empty biscuit tin.

However, the events of Halloween night remained in a shroud of confusion for another two weeks. Because that's when I saw the Doctor again.

***?***

It was Saturday the 13th of November when I next saw the Doctor. I was home alone, with my Mum at work and my Dad taking my brother to football. It had taken me nearly a week to convince my Mum that I would be fine for the three hours that I would be alone and did not need to wake up ridiculously early just to watch Evan play football. So when I heard the knock on the door, I was annoyed, sure that it was one of Mum's friends that she'd sent round to look after me. I was eleven! I could take care of myself.

"Merry!"

I shrieked as I was grabbed in a hug and shaken like a rag doll. I would have continued screaming if I hadn't recognised the scent - fire and leather; a lightening storm and dust after rain. He still smelt the exact same, even after two weeks.

"You're still wearing the jacket!" I said gleefully as I dropped to the floor. "And the jumper." I said a bit more quietly.

"Well of course I am." He said as if offended. "They're brilliant outfit choices."

I laughed, stepping back into the house and gesturing for him to come in.

"I'm home alone, so its fine."

He grinned widely at me as he stepped past me into the hallway, not waiting for me to shut the door before he walked through the kitchen and into the living room. When I hurried to catch up with him, he was flipping through one of the magazines from the coffee table.

"What year is it?" He asked suddenly.

"Um, 2010...Why?"

"Oh, last time I checked I was in 2005." He said so matter-of-factually that all I could do was believe him. After all, I reasoned to myself, he had a blue box that led to a completely different dimension.

"Anyway!" He suddenly threw the magazine he had been flicking through to the side and it fluttered to the ground. "Want to come on an adventure?"

My immediate reaction was to say yes, but the lessons in school suddenly kicked in. I narrowed my eyes at him.

"But I hardly know you." I said suspiciously. He was still smiling.

"Well, glad to know you have _some_ survival instincts." He chortled. "But you can trust me."

And for some reason, I did.

"Well, come on then!" He walked past me and into the kitchen, but I still had one protest.

"I'm in my pyjamas!"

"Really?" He turned around and looked at me. "Oh yeah. Well, it doesn't matter."

"Yes it does!" I cried. "I've got to get dressed. It won't take long." I promised.

"Oh, alright then. Girls and their clothes..." He muttered to himself as I ran up the stairs.

"What should I wear?" I shouted down to him.

"Whaddya mean?"

"Like, are we going through woods? Or to the beach? Are we going to just look around a museum or do something more active?" I was determined to think ahead, the memory of going in flipflops only for it to rain having happened a few too many times.

"Just... wear trainers."

I puzzled over his words, but quickly found a pair of black skinny jeans and an old blue t-shirt, with a black zip-up hoodie and a pair of ratty blue trainers. I brushed my blonde hair up into a ponytail and decided I was good for any weather.

"Oh, you didn't take that long." Was the first thing the Doctor said to me when I ran back downstairs. He sounded surprised.

"I'm only eleven - it's not like I put on make up or anything." I told him. I knew what he meant; waiting for Mum to get ready always felt like ages.

"Well, all the more time for adventuring!" He cried, walking fast through the kitchen.

"But I've got to leave a note!" I said, quickly finding a pen and a piece of paper.

"But I can get you back five minutes from now." The Doctor complained.

"Really? Are you sure?" I asked sceptically - it wouldn't be much of an adventure if it only lasted five minutes.

"Well..." He winced. "Maybe it is best to leave a note, just in case."

I nodded. Quickly, I wrote down that I had been invited around a friend from school's house and I would be back in time for tea and, after asking the Doctor if he had a phone number, scribbled it down at the bottom of the paper.

"Can we go now?" He whined slightly and I had a sudden thought that he acted more like an eleven year old than I did.

I nodded and within minutes we were out of the front door and walking briskly down the street, until we reached the same blue Police Box as before. I waited silently as the Doctor searched through his pockets until he came up with a key and followed him silently into the box.

"Welcome back to the TARDIS, Merry." He gestured grandly.

"Why do you call me Merry?" I asked suddenly, remembering him doing it last time we had met but unsure why he did.

"Doesn't anyone else call you Merry?" He asked, looking confused.

"No..." I shook my head slowly.

"Huh. Its a good nickname." He suddenly seemed to defend his choice in nicknames.

"I like it." I blushed slightly. "Nobody's ever given me a nickname before."

He seemed shocked.

"Never? They don't just call you Meredith do they?"

"Yeah, its just Meredith." I say, feeling slightly sad. I don't have any friends to shorten it and my Mum, the traditional sort, just calls me by my first name.

"Well, I think Merry is perfectly good."

"Yeah. Fantastic." I smile up at the Doctor, where he's stood by the centre bit of the room.

"Where to first, then?" His wide grin was infectious and I couldn't help but smile back at him.

"Well.."

* * *

It wasn't until what I was pretty sure was three months later, running down the long corridors of the RMS Titanic as they slowly filled with water that I started to regret my life decisions. Up until this point, it had been fun. We'd delivered letters around space and time to people who made the Doctor frown and others who made him smile. We'd taken two old friends of the Doctor's to see William Shakespeare, which was something I'd never even imagined. And we had joined what seemed like a race with twelve other men, all with the same eyes, to help a burning planet; although this one hadn't been mentioned since. We had gone to Space Florida, which had been amazing; we'd gone to museums and zoos and bazaars; we'd travelled to an American circus in the early 1970's (which had turned out pretty bad, I had to admit to myself); we'd saved a civilisation and escaped from at least three jail cells and now, finally, we'd arrived in a store cupboard on a low level of the Titanic, following a signal from some alien device I couldn't pronounce that the Doctor was determined to retrieve. Well, that he was determined I'd retrieve, whilst he held back the group of long-necked, feathered aliens that had suddenly appeared.

I was startled out of my thoughts as I crashed into somebody. On autopilot, I'd run round the corner at the end of the corridor and hadn't had any chance to think that someone else would be stupid enough to still be in these corridors, with the water still rising.

"What are you doing down here, little one?" The voice was masculine and kind. I looked up, rage starting to boil in my blood at the nickname; I wasn't little. I stopped before I could do more than open my mouth, however, as I had to look up far enough that I considered to myself that I really was little compared to this giant. And then I saw his face and any words I'd had flew from my brain.

"We need to get out of here." The man suddenly said, an urgent tone to his voice. His familiar eyes wanted to keep me silent but his words startled me out of my daze.

"I'm eleven! Not little!" I shouted, taking his sudden distraction to run past him as fast as I could. I could hear his feet pounding on the floor behind me, the splash of water as he ploughed through it. I ran even faster, turning corner after corner in the hopes that it would distract him. I almost couldn't place it, but I knew I had to get away from him. It was _important._

In a way, it was even more important than finding the stupid alien artefact that was the reason I was even here. The Doctor could have fun distracting the giraffe-aliens a bit longer.

* * *

It wasn't until nearly a week later, long after I'd swam my way down to the sinking TARDIS with a strange, glowing chain in my mouth as the Titanic sunk around me; long after the Doctor had wrapped me in a blanket and made me hot chocolate in an attempt to warm me up. In fact, it wasn't until after escaping the court of Hammurabi and meeting Ali that I thought about it at all.

What had it been about the man's blue eyes that had seemed so familiar yet so, so scary?


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 2: The end of the world

"Where are we going, Doctor?" I asked, holding onto the railing with one hand and pressing down the violet button with the other. The Doctor was grinning maniacally as he ran around the console.

"I never told her it travels through time!" He said, as if it made perfect sense. I rolled my eyes, although I couldn't help my own grin at his excitement.

"And back we go." I laughed along with him this time; his enthusiasm was contagious.

* * *

Rose looked down at her lump of a boyfriend, still clinging to her leg and sighed, already regretting her decision.

"Come on, then." She pulled Mickey up and he was on his feet, following her towards her flat when the most wonderful sound in the world reached her ears.

"Did I mention?" The head that popped out of the TARDIS made her grin. "It also travels in time."

She laughed and, without even stopping to think about it, she pushed up on her tiptoes and gave Mickey a quick kiss.

"Thank you."

"What for?" He asked, confused.

"This."

And without another word, she ran for open doors of the magical blue box and the crazy man with the big ears.

She didn't regret it until she was in the console room, looking directly at a young girl. The girl was smiling at her, but Rose suddenly had a deep suspicion that the 10 seconds it had been for her in that alleyway hadn't been 10 seconds for the Doctor in his TARDIS. He had said it could travel in time.

"Did you go and have a kid?" It was a blunt statement, but definitely necessary.

The girl barked out a loud laugh that trailed off into giggles as the Doctor seemed to choke on air. Rose stood there, a confused smile on her face.

"No, no." The Doctor shook his head rapidly. "Just...No."

The girl laughed even louder.

"But... Right then, Rose Tyler, you tell me." The alien turned to her and grinned, even as the girls giggles continued on the other side of the console. "Where do you want to go? Backwards or forwards in time; it's your choice. What'll it be?"

Rose felt a grin of her own spread over her face as she walked to stand next to the Doctor, for a moment forgetting the girl opposite them.

"Forwards." She decided after a bit of contemplation.

"How far?"

"One hundred years." It was said almost doubtfully.

She gasped when the room around them shuddered and she quickly grabbed onto a nearby railing to try and keep her balance.

"There you go." The Doctor nodded towards the doors. "Step outside those doors. Its the twenty-second century."

"You're kidding." Rose said, raising an eyebrow.

"Bit boring, though. Do you want to go further?"

"Fine by me." Rose smiled.

The Doctor hit what seemed to be random buttons on the console.

"Ten thousand years in the future. Step outside, it's the year 12005, the new Roman Empire." He sounded smug.

"You think you're so impressive." She smirked.

"I am so impressive." He insisted.

"You wish."

"Right then, you asked for it. I know exactly where to go. Hold on!" He laughed and Rose grinned wider than she ever had as the TARDIS shook and shuddered and she nearly fell over. She didn't think she'd ever felt so alive.

"Where are we?" Rose questioned when the TARDIS finally seemed to have stopped. The Doctor merely gestured to the doors, grinning. "What's out there?" With a smile on her face, Rose turned and walked over to the doors, looking back at him sceptically just before she opened the doors. He merely grinned.

As Rose poked her head out of the TARDIS, seeing only a room and so leaving the TARDIS completely, Merry made her way around the console to stand beside the Doctor.

"She's a bit young." Merry said as seriously as she could.

The Doctor snorted loudly, grinning down at the top of the little blonde head he had quickly become fond of.

"You're one to talk."

Merry smirked as she followed Rose's path out of the TARDIS and looked around with amazed eyes at the large wooden room she found herself in. There were window-like vents littering the walls and a large oval door at the back of the room. The most interesting thing was definitely the large shutter covering most of the back wall.

As Rose walked over to the shutter Merry lent against the TARDIS and watched as the Doctor fiddled with something on the wall. All of a sudden, the shutter on the wall started to rise. As the world outside came into view, Merry pushed herself off of the TARDIS with a gasp, moving to stand next to Rose. Outside the window was the earth - the earth as they knew it, with the sun hovering behind it.

"You lot, you spend all your time thinking about dying, like you're going to get killed by eggs or beef or global warming or asteroids." The Doctor said as he came to stand behind them. "But you never take time to imagine the impossible, that maybe you survive. This is the year five point five slash apple slash twenty six. Five billion years in your future, and this is the day," He pauses to look at his wrist watch. "Hold on."

The two girls watch as the sun flares and turns red.

"This is the day the Sun expands. Welcome to the end of the world."

* * *

"Shuttles five and six now docking. Guests are reminded that Platform One forbids the use of weapons, teleportation and religion. Earth Death is scheduled for fifteen thirty nine."

I jumped at the sudden voice, startled out of my contemplation of the world below. I barely listened to Rose and the Doctor's conversation as I wandered away from them, lost in my own thoughts.

I had no idea what Rose thought of me. I was almost scared of it, to be honest. The older girl and the Doctor had such an instant bond and I wasn't sure how to react. Her first reaction to me had been hilarious, though. I snorted quietly to myself at the memory. Me, his daughter; we didn't even look alike! But apart from that, it was if Rose hadn't even noticed I was there. I pouted to myself. It would be nice to make another friend.

I looked up suddenly as the Doctor's voice trailed off and when I looked up, I felt panic grip me when I saw Rose and the Doctor had disappeared. I shook the panic off as quickly as I could - he had left me on my own before and I was always alright - and headed out of the room myself, turning quickly down the corridor.

"Who the hell are you?" The surprised voice suddenly echoed down the corridor and I made in that direction, glad that there was at least one other person on this space station.

"Oh, that's nice, thanks." I smiled to myself when I heard the Doctor's voice, as sarcastic as ever.

"But how did you get in? This is a maximum hospitality zone. The guests have disembarked. They're on their way, any second now..." The voice still sounded surprised and as I turned one last corner I saw it was a tall, blue alien who looked very human - apart from the colour - stood opposite the Doctor. Behind the Doctor was Rose and behind her a big window showed another view of the slowly expanding sun.

"That's me, I'm a guest." The Doctor tried to reassure. "Look, I've got an invitation. Look, there you see, its fine, you see. The Doctor and Merry, plus one." He grinned. "I'm the Doctor, this is Rose Tyler. She's my plus one. And there behind you is Merry." His grin was mischievous. The blue man spun around to look at me and I gave him a shy wave. "Is that alright?"

"Well, obviously." The blue man seemed to straighten out a bit. "Apologies, etcetera." The Doctor tried to frown and nod seriously, although I could still see the glint in his eyes. "If you're on board, we'd better start. Enjoy."

I couldn't see the blue man's face but the Doctor grinned again and, when the blue man had walked past me and was arranging something on a glass podium I hadn't noticed before, the Doctor turned to Rose, pulling a thin black wallet out of his pocket.

"The paper's slightly psychic. It shows them whatever I want them to see. It saves a lot of time." he flipped the wallet closed and put it back in his pocket.

"He's blue." Rose sounded almost doubtful and very surprised and I frowned slightly. It could have been a lot worse - my first aliens had been fluffy creatures that looked like a mix of guinea pig and rabbit, only with wings, that were seven foot across and could talk. Blue really wasn't that bad.

"We have in attendance," the blue man spoke suddenly. "The Doctor, Merry and Rose Tyler." The Doctor grinned and waved cheerfully and I, feeling a bit shy, made my way over to him, purposefully hiding behind his larger form. "Thank you, all staff to their positions." The blue man clapped his hands together.

What happened next felt like the first day of school all over again. Introduction after introduction, followed by greeting after greeting. Only, these people were all adults.

"Representing the Forest of Cheem, we have Trees, namely, Jabe, Lute and Coffa. There will be an exchange of gifts representing peace. If you could keep the room circulating, thank you. Next from the solicitors Jolco and Jolco we have the Moxx of Balhoon." A little blue alien with a big head, sitting on what looked like a floating chair, followed what seemed like three tree-people into the room.

"And next, from Financial Family Seven, we have the Adherents of the Repeated Meme."

A group of black-robed people came through the doors.

"The inventors of Hypo-slip Travel Systems, the brothers Hop Pyleen. Thank you."

Two human shaped lizards, wearing fur coats, came next and I tried not to stare.

"Cal Spark Plug. Mister and Mrs Pakoo. The Ambassadors from the City State of Binding Light."

The list went on and on, but I was distracted slightly as the three tree-people came up to us.

"The Gift of Peace. I bring you a cutting of my Grandfather." Jabe said calmly.

She handed the Doctor a small pot, with what I was pretty sure was a branch in it. He quickly handed it over to Rose.

"Thank you. Yes, gifts." The Doctor patted down his pockets, and I giggled to myself. I knew he didn't have a gift. "Er, I give you in return air from my lungs." He bent forward slightly and breathed gently into Jabe's face. I wrinkled my nose, not wanting to imagine what his breath smelt like.

"How intimate." She said, almost coyly.

"There's more where that came from." The Doctor said flirtatiously.

"I bet there is." the tree-woman flirted back and I gagged to myself, making sure that I was hidden completely behind the Doctor's back.

"From the sliver devestation, the sponsor of the main event, please welcome, the Face of Boe."

I peeked out from behind the Doctor, gaping slightly at the giant face that came through the doors. I had never seen anything like it!

"The Moxx of Balhoon." The Doctor exclaimed. Rolling my eyes, not really interested in meeting the big-headed alien, I snuck over to where the Face of Boe was situated to my left.

"Hi" I said shyly as soon as I was stood in front of him, not wanting my anxiety to build up until I couldn't say anything at all.

 _"Little one."_

My head jerked up at that from where I'd been staring at my shoes. The large, kind, _familiar_ eyes made my heart stop.

"Hi" I squeaked.

" _Little one"_ His voice resounded in my head, strongly amused and strangely fond. I sucked my lower lip into my mouth, unconsciously chewing on it. " _It is good to see you."_

I squeaked again, trying to say something. Luckily, I was interrupted before I could make an even bigger fool of myself.

"And last but not least, our very special guest. Ladies and gentlemen, and trees and multiforms, consider the Earth below. In memory of this dying world, we call forth the last Human. The Lady Cassandra O'Brien Dot Delta Seventeen."

I watched, intrigued, as the door opened one more time but recoiled unconsciously as what came through was as far from human as I could imagine. It looked like a trampoline but like too-thin paper at the same time, with wide eyes and a painted-red mouth for a face.

"Oh, now, don't stare. I know, I know it's shocking, isn't it? I've had my chin completely taken away and look at the difference. Look how thin I am. Thin and dainty. I don't look a day over two thousand. Moisturise me. Moisturise me." One of her attendants, presumably a man in a white jumpsuit, uses a pump spray on the paper.

"She's paper" I whisper incredulously.

 _"No, she's skin."_ The revulsion in the Face of Boe's voice was unmistakable and for a moment, I wandered if they had met before.

"Truly, I am the last Human. My father was a Texan, my mother was from the Arctic Desert. They were born on the Earth and were the last to be buried in its soil. I have come to honour them and say goodbye. Oh, no tears, no tears. I'm sorry. But behold, I bring gifts. From Earth itself, the last remaining ostrich egg. Legend says it had a wingspan of fifty feet and blew fire from its nostrils. Or was that my third husband? Oh, no. Oh, don't laugh. I'll get laughter lines. And here, another rarity."

I watched with a bit of amusement as Rose walked around the piece of skin - I shivered at the thought - a look of deep confusion on her face. It only became more pronounced as a jukebox was wheeled through the doors.

"According to the archives, this was called an iPod." I snorted. That was not an iPod! "It stores classical music from humanity's greatest composers. Play on!"

I snorted again as Tainted Love came on and started softly humming along. It reminded me of mum and, all of a sudden, I felt a sharp pang in my chest. I really did miss her; the longest I had gone without seeing her before meeting the Doctor was a weekend - it had been nearly four months! I just really, really hoped that the Doctor was right and could get me back for five minutes after we left.

" _There is no need to cry, little one."_ I jumped as the voice once again echoed through my mind and I felt a phantom hand on my face, as if someone was brushing away the wetness on my cheeks. _"What is troubling you?"_

"I just..." I hesitated, not sure if I should tell this strange face or not. But something inside me, the same thing that told me I should run the last time I saw those eyes told me, today, to trust them. "I miss my mum." I admitted finally.

 _"It is nothing to be ashamed of to miss your mother."_ He rumbled.

"Do you still miss your mother?" The curiosity burning in me made me ask, but I still blushed at the rude question. Luckily, the Face of Boe merely laughed.

 _"I am the oldest being in the universe; some could say I am older than the universe itself. This does not mean I do not miss my mother."_ I felt my mouth gape open - how could anyone be that old? But the Doctor was over 900 years old. I guess some races must just live longer, I reasoned to myself. But I felt my heart break at the sadness in his tone.

"I'm so sorry." I said, feeling a bit awkward.

" _Little one, there is no reason for you to be sorry."_

The Face of Boe was cut off and I was almost glad for it. I had a feeling I didn't want to hear what he'd say to me next.

"Earth death in ten minutes."

There wasn't even five seconds silence before Cassandra opened her mouth again.

"The planet's end. Come gather, come gather. Bid farewell to the cradle of civilisation. Let us mourn her with a traditional ballad. "

I giggled properly when Toxic by Brittany Spears came one. It was the furthest thing from a 'traditional ballad' that I could think of. As I looked around the observation deck, I realised my conversation with the Face of Boe had lasted longer than I thought it had and that the Doctor and Rose had gone off somewhere. I sighed to myself.

"Greetings."

I jumped at the sudden voice, my head whipping around to look at the two lizard-people who had come up to us whilst I was lost in thought.

"We have come to pay our felicitations to the Face of Boe." They both bowed their heads as they said this. I raised an eyebrow - who actually _was_ the Face of Boe? I was shaken out of my thoughts as a deep grumbling filled my mind - I was startled to realise that it was the Face of Boe. Was he not happy to talk to these people?

" _Brothers."_ It was a deep rumble of a word, filled with authority. It was so very different from the way he greeted me that I felt my heart skip a beat in surprise. I could only blink as they turned to me.

"M'lady." They bowed again, although this time one of them held out a small box, wrapped in glittering paper. After an uncertain glance at the Face of Boe, I took the gift. Before I could say anything, however, the doors opened and the tree-woman the Doctor had been flirting with earlier, Jabe, came running in. She was holding a large, round metal ball with thin metal legs in her hand. Everyone was silent, confusion in the air, as she held a little metal box up to the metal ball. All you could hear in the room was breathing, with the occasional whisper.

"The metal machine confirms. The spider devices have infiltrated the whole of Platform One." She said suddenly, as the doors opened again and the Doctor came barrelling through.

"How's that possible? Our private rooms are protected by a code wall. Moisturise me, moisturise me." Cassandra worried, as the Doctor snatched the spider device out of Jabe's hand.

"Summon the Steward." The Moxx of Balhoon demanded.

"I'm afraid the Steward is dead." Jabe revealed.

"Who killed him?" The Moxx of Balhoon gasped, along with the majority of the room.

"This whole event was sponsored by the Face of Boe." Cassandra immediately accused. I took a protective step back, so I was directly in front of the Face of Boe. "He invited us. Talk to the Face. Talk to the Face." She demanded.

I opened my mouth, ready to defend the Face of Boe, although I wasn't entirely sure why.

"Easy way of finding out. Someone bought their little pet on board. Let's send him back to master." The Doctor said before I could actually say anything and I couldn't help but feel grateful for that - I had no idea what I would have said.

The Doctor put the spider device on the floor and I watched as it scuttled off to Cassandra and scanned her with a little red light before moving off and stopping before the humanoid people in black cloaks.

"The Adherents of the Repeated Meme." Cassandra gasped. "J'accuse!"

"That's all very well, and really kind of obvious, but if you stop and think about it" The Doctor paused as he sauntered over to the group. I gasped as what might have been the leader of the group tried to hit him, but the Doctor merely pulled the beings arm off.

"A Repeated Meme is just an idea. And that's all they are, an idea." He revealed. As he spoke, he pulled at one of the wires hanging from the arm and I watched as all the Adherents collapsed to the floor.

"Remote controlled Droids. Nice little cover for the real troublemaker. Go on, Jimbo. Go home." The Doctor encouraged the little robot, pushing it away with his foot. I couldn't find it in me to be surprised when it went back to Cassandra.

"I bet you were the school swot and never got kissed." The piece of skin spat. "At arms!" The two men in the white jumpsuits raised their spray guns.

"What are you going to do, moisturise me?" The Doctor taunted.

"With acid. Oh, you're too late, anyway. My spiders have control of the mainframe. Oh, you all carried them as gifts, tax free, past every code wall. I'm not just as pretty face." Cassandra rolled her eyes.

"Sabotaging a ship while you're still inside it? How stupid's that?" He asked and I couldn't help but worry when I heard the desperation in his voice.

"I'd hoped to manufacture a hostage situation with myself as one of the victims. The compensation would have been enormous." She sounded rather satisfied with her plan and I was glad it obviously hadn't worked out that way.

"Five billion years and it still comes down to money." The Doctor spat.

"Do you think it's cheap, looking like this? Flatness costs a fortune. I am the last human, Doctor. Me. Not that freaky little kid of yours." Cassandra spat.

"Arrest her, the infidel." The Moxx of Balhoon interrupted their conversation and I couldn't help but wish it would be that simple.

"Oh, shut it, pixie. I've still got my final option." Cassandra said smugly.

"Earth Death in three minutes." Was intoned from the speakers.

"And here it comes. You're just as useful dead, all of you. I have shares in your rival companies and they'll triple in price as soon as you're dead. My spiders are primed and ready to destroy the safety systems. How did that old Earth song go? Burn, baby, burn." Cassandra's laugh was decidedly evil.

"Then you'll burn with us." Jabe pointed out.

"Oh, I'm so sorry. I know the use of teleportation is strictly forbidden, but I'm such a naughty thing. Spiders, activate." I jumped as a number of loud noises - explosions - echoed around the space station.

"Forcefields gone with the planet about to explode. At least it'll be quick. Just like my fifth husband. Oh, shame on me." She tittered to herself.

"Safety systems failing."

I felt panic build up in me as the computer helpfully continued to inform us of our impending dooms.

"Bye, bye, darlings. Bye, bye, my darlings."

I was so caught up in my panic that I didn't even notice Cassandra and her men in white beam out of the room.

"Heat levels rising."

This was so not how I wanted to die.

"Reset the computer." The Moxx of Balhoon said reasonably.

"Only the Steward would know how." Jabe pointed out.

"No. We can do it by hand. There must be a system restore switch." The Doctor frantically looked around the room. "Merry, come with me. The rest of you, just chill." He tried to smile.

I didn't look at anyone else as I made to follow him out of the room, stopping for a second to place the present I still hadn't let go of on the floor next to the Face of Boe.

"I shall go with you." Jabe insisted before I'd even made it to the door, where the Doctor was impatiently waiting.

"No, Jabe. It's too hot down there; you'd melt." The Doctor explained his reasoning.

"So you take this child instead?" She asked, insulted.

I couldn't help but feel insulted myself. I wasn't a child, honestly!

"Heat rising."

"We need to go." I said suddenly, surprising even myself at the insistence in my voice.

"Right." The Doctor clapped his hands together. "Jabe, keep these guys calm." He didn't wait for her to answer as he turned and sprinted down the corridors. I watched him for half a second, rolling my eyes. Honestly, all I seemed to do was run after him.

"Hurry up, Merry!" He called over his shoulder.

I huffed and sprinted as fast as I could after him, which was a lot faster now than it had been the first time he'd made me run. We didn't slow down until we'd reached a weirdly shaped maintenance duct, where the Doctor had to duck to fit.

"Earth death in two minutes. Earth death in two minutes."

"Yes, thank you very much computer." I growled, suddenly fed up with the constant reminder.

"Heat levels critical. Heat levels critical."

I would have snapped again if the Doctor hadn't stopped suddenly and I banged into his back. We were in a large room with rotatory blades cutting across the pathway I assumed we needed to go across.

"And guess where the switch is." The Doctor sighed.

We both looked down to the other end of the pathway and I pursed my lips at the razor sharp fans. I turned to try and find another way.

"Heat levels rising. Heat levels rising."

I huffed again at the reminder, even as I felt sweat drip down the back of my neck. I was glad I'd put it in a plait this morning.

I startled as the fans suddenly slowed down a little and turned to see the Doctor holding down a lever. I started to smile, until he let go and the fans sped up again.

"External temperature five thousand degrees."

"Gee, thanks." The Doctor said and I couldn't help but giggle, although it came out a little hysterical. The Doctor turned to grin at me, but I could see the worry in his eyes. One of us would have to hold the lever down and the other would have to dodge the fans. Turning to look at the fans for a moment, I soon turned back to the Doctor and, smiling at him, I grabbed the lever, using my entire body weight to push it down - the Doctor was definitely stronger than he looked, this thing was heavy!

"It's going to get pretty hot. The heat's going to vent through this place." He warned me.

"Then do it quickly." I told him, though I thought it would have been pretty obvious. He smiled again before turning to the slowed-down fans.

"Heat levels rising. Heat levels rising."

There was a moments pause.

"Heat levels hazardous. Heat levels hazardous."

The Doctor jumped past one of the rotary blades and when he turned to look at me, I smiled brightly at him, even though my hands were beginning to hurt and it felt like my face was melting off.

He ran through another set of the blades. He only had one more to go and I wished I could cross my fingers.

"Heat levels rising. Heat levels rising."

I rolled my head up to the ceiling, scrunching my nose. It was a good distraction from the pain that suddenly lanced up my arms and I cried out involuntarily.

"Merry!"

I turned my head to see the Doctor was looking at me through the blades and almost looked as if he wanted to come back.

"Come on! There's only one left!" I shouted back. I didn't think I could hold onto the lever for much longer. My hands felt like they were on fire and the muscles in my arms were starting to quiver. Unwittingly, the lever started ascent back to its original position, even as I tried my hardest to keep it down; I wasn't strong enough.

"Hurry up!" I screamed when I saw him still staring at the last fan. They were already starting to speed up, although not as fast as they could be.

Finally, when I thought he wouldn't move at all, he jumped through the speeding-up fan and I lost the battle against the lever. I just let go in time to avoid my fingers being trapped.

"Raise the shields!"

I jumped at the Doctors voice, and breathed a sigh of realise when the fans slowed down again and the computer's familiar voice finally said something reassuring.

"Exoglass repair. Exoglass repair. Exoglass repair."

I sink to the ground in relief, feeling as if all my muscles were shaking.

"Come on, Merry." The Doctor's sudden reappearance at my side didn't startle me - I was too tired.

"I'll be there in a minute." I told him tiredly.

"I don't think so." He said playfully, bending down so his back was to me. "Hop on."

I smiled. He had done this a few times, when I was too tired to walk back to the TARDIS after an adventure. I easily moved onto his back but gasped when I went to clasp my hands around his neck. Pulling them away, I held them in front of me, so we could both see my palms. They were a bright, angry red, with little white lines dotting them.

"I have something for that in the TARDIS." The Doctor said cheerfully, although I could hear something sad in his tone. "Just cross your wrists."

I did as he said and he was soon marching through the maintenance duct and then through the corridors, where bits of wall and furniture were smoking from the previously high temperature. It must have only been two minutes before we were entering the main room and, looking around, I was happy to note that nobody seemed to be missing. Even Rose was there.

"You alright?" She asked as he came to stand next to her. I smiled at her over his shoulder, obliging when he stooped to let me slide to the floor. I slid so I was sitting on the floor next to Rose and she looked down at me with a puzzled smile as the Doctor stormed off.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I'm full of ideas, I'm bristling with them. Idea number one, teleportation through five thousand degrees needs some kind of feed. Idea number two, this feed must be hidden nearby." He quickly deduced.

He quickly walks up to and smashes open the ostrich egg Cassandra had brought with her to show a small, metal device. I frowned in confusion.

"Idea number three, if you're as clever as me, then a teleportation feed can be reversed." The Doctor fiddled with the device for a second and my eyes widened when Cassandra seemed to fade back into the room.

"Oh, you should have seen their little alien faces." Echoed around the quiet room.

I looked up at Rose with a raised eyebrow when Cassandra appeared completely.

"Oh." She paused.

"The last human." The Doctor sneered.

"So, you passed my little test. Bravo. This makes you eligible to join, er, the Human Club." Cassandra tried to pacify the Doctor but I knew this time, it wouldn't work. Someone innocent had died today.

"People have died, Cassandra. You murdered them."

"It depends on your definition of people, and that's enough of a technicality to keep your lawyers dizzy for centuries. Take me to court, then, Doctor, and watch me smile and cry and flutter." She smiled, self-satisfied and all I wanted to do right then was get up and punch her in her weird face.

"And creak?" The Doctor taunted.

"And what?" Cassandra asked, puzzled.

"Creak. You're creaking." The Doctor clarified with a little grin.

"What? Ah! I'm drying out! Oh, sweet heavens. Moisturise me, moisturise me! Where are my surgeons? My lovely boys! It's too hot!" She cried out. I sucked my bottom lip into my mouth, turning my head so I couldn't see her.

"You raised the temperature." The Doctor said, matter-of-fact.

"Have pity! Moisturise me! Oh, oh, Doctor. I'm sorry. I'll do anything." She begged.

"Help her." Rose said, coming up behind the Doctor.

"Everything has its time and everything dies." The Doctor said, not unkindly. I still couldn't watch.

"I'm too young!" Cassandra cried one last time.

I flinched when a loud _Splat!_ sounded throughout the room. When I looked up, all I could see was the Doctor's slumped shoulders and everyone else's surprised faces.

* * *

When we'd returned to the room we'd originally landed in, I was more than happy to board the TARDIS straight away, even as the Doctor and Rose wandered over to the observation window. I loved exploring, I really did, but it was difficult. The most I should be doing right now was going to school!

I heard the TARDIS door open behind me and hurried down the corridor before either the Doctor or Rose could see me. I didn't even go and investigate when the TARDIS landed and didn't take off again for nearly an hour. I didn't see either of them until the Doctor came to find me, a small, green-blue tub in his hand.

"Come on then, show me your hands." He grinned at me.

I laughed slightly and held them out when'd he'd sat next to me on the sofa.

"Doctor..." I trailed off.

 _"_ _It is nothing to be ashamed of to miss your mother."_ The words of the Face of Boe echoing through my mind strengthened my resolve.

"Can you drop me off back home please?"


End file.
